U.S. Journalist in Iran's Evin Prison Releases Audio on Dire Conditions

An audio message smuggled out of Iran's Evin Prison this week carries the voice of a man describing conditions that sound less like a modern detention facility and more like a place where basic humanity has been suspended. Reza Valizadeh, a U.S. citizen and journalist who has been held there since 2024, recorded an update on the state of the prison and the fate of a fellow American inmate. CBS News obtained the recording, and Valizadeh's attorney has authorized its release—a decision that carries real risk for the man behind the microphone.

Valizadeh worked for Radio Free Europe's Persian language service before his arrest. He is one of five Americans currently detained in Iran, two of them at Evin itself. The other three are believed to be trapped under exit bans, prevented by Iranian authorities from leaving the country. His latest message focuses on two interconnected crises: the deteriorating conditions inside the prison walls, and the specific case of Kamran Hekmati, a 61-year-old Iranian-American from New York who was arrested in 2025 on charges related to past travel to Israel. Both men are considered wrongfully detained by the U.S. State Department.

In his recorded statement, Valizadeh describes a prison system in collapse. For more than a year, inmates have been denied access to the library and exercise facilities. Medical care is, by his account, almost nonexistent—only the most basic medications are available, and even those are often intercepted. He reports that prison staff routinely steal medicines that families manage to deliver to their relatives inside. The doctors, he says, are unmotivated and lack professional competence, which means most prisoners avoid seeking treatment until their condition becomes critical.

The most alarming detail concerns disease. Valizadeh reports that tuberculosis has returned inside Evin—both pulmonary and gastrointestinal forms. One prisoner exhibited severe symptoms, including coughing up blood and dramatic weight loss, for six months before authorities finally transferred him to an outside hospital when his condition became life-threatening. By that point, he had spent roughly ten months in close quarters with other inmates. No one knows how many prisoners may have been exposed to or infected. The prison's food is so poor in quality that most detainees refuse to eat it. Recently, authorities have begun transferring non-political prisoners—those convicted of financial crimes—into the political prisoners' ward, a move Valizadeh believes is designed to fracture the unity of the political detainee population and strain already inadequate space and facilities.

Punishment for even minor complaints about conditions is swift and severe. Valizadeh has not been allowed to see his family for five months. He attributes part of this to explicit retaliation for raising grievances, and part to what authorities justify as wartime restrictions. The isolation compounds the physical dangers of the environment itself.

Hekmati's case illustrates the broader pattern. He was granted medical leave to seek treatment for what is believed to be recurring cancer. His approved furlough was supposed to last 45 days—time enough to begin chemotherapy. After just one month, with his treatment still incomplete, he was ordered back to prison. His advocate, Kieran Ramsey of Global Reach, confirmed that Hekmati was unable to obtain the chemotherapy he needed during his brief time outside. He turns 62 next week, and he is back behind bars.

Valizadeh's attorney, Ryan Fayhee, has called on the Trump administration to prioritize the release of these detainees in its ongoing negotiations with Iran. The administration has stated that it is closely tracking Valizadeh's case and working diligently to secure the release of all U.S. citizens detained there. But it has never publicly confirmed that it has raised these specific cases during months of negotiations. When CBS News contacted the Iranian mission at the United Nations for comment, they offered none. For Valizadeh, the silence is part of the punishment. He released this message because he is desperate, and because he believes the world needs to know what is happening inside Evin's walls.